Basketball coach, career academy facilitator, columnist, father, husband, grandfather, need I say more? Coach Eddy Lloyd is clearly a busy man, juggling his day-to-day routine with nothing but smiles and positivity. Since graduating from Tunstall in 1974, he continues to show his Trojan pride through his journalistic work and coaching abilities.

Lloyd was named the first sports editor for the Tunstall student newspaper with a column titled “Lloyd’s Lowdown” by his teacher Norm Wilkerson. This became a crucial moment in Lloyd’s life because it opened a door to something he would continue to carry out for many years.

His teacher later acquired him a job with the Martinsville Bulletin, so Lloyd wrote for them, as well, during high school. He continued to do this, then wrote for the Danville Register & Bee for two years before coming to Tunstall. Currently, Coach Lloyd writes for the Chatham Star Tribune as a sport editor and continues “Lloyd’s Lowdown” to show gratitude to his former teacher for a small push into the world of journalism.  This week Lloyd published a tribute to his childhood home that was destroyed in the recent tornado entitled “‘Little stack of splinters’ is gone, but memories will endure.”

Lloyd majored in Journalism at the University of Tennessee, then returned to Virginia to continue his education at Radford University. There, he majored in social studies and minored in journalism because he decided to pursue a career in teaching.

Today, Lloyd is commonly known for his role as the head coach for boys’ varsity basketball and overseeing career academy. He, also, happens to be involved in other basketball coaching positions such as a children’s coach at basketball camp held at the University of North Carolina since 1987. He has been a part of this position for 31 years, and expressed a great love for it.

Lloyd said, “It’s a great experience for me, and I’ve met many people including Dean Smith (former head coach), who is my hero in basketball.”

During his time away from coaching, Lloyd felt very unhappy with his career. He was a cars salesman for half a year, but found no fulfillment doing it. He found his one of his current jobs with the Chatham Star Tribune in 2015, and also realized that coaching was his passion, and it was something he wanted to continue to do. Upon receiving some job opportunities at Tunstall, becoming the boys’ varsity basketball coach was among them.

“How many people can say their job can bring them to tears or cheers?” said Lloyd.

Lloyd also pointed out that his main objective as a coach is not just winning, but helping his players grow as individuals and to become better in all aspects of their lives. Lloyd continued, “I push hard for them to know what is right and wrong, and if I ingrain that in them, I feel accomplished as a coach.”

The basketball court isn’t the only place where Lloyd motivates students to do their best. He began to oversee career academy, a program that allows students with unique situations to take online courses that they may need to graduate, but were not able to do so in a classroom. Lloyd started at the beginning of last year as a substitute, and decided to stay in that teaching position. He treats his students just like he treats his players, and encourages them to do their best in everything they do. In every aspect, Lloyd continues to show a love for his job, as well as his school.